Palmistry

{{short description|Foretelling the future through the study of the palm}} {{Redirect|Cheirology|manual alphabets|Fingerspelling|sign-language phonology|Cherology|the musician|Palmistry (musician)}} {{redirect|Palm reader|other uses|Palm Reader (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} [[File:Palm Readings.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A fortune-teller conducting a palm reading, with lines and mounts marked out on the person's left palm]] thumb|Gold stamped front cover of ''The Psychonomy of the Hand''

'''Palmistry''' is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as '''palm reading''', '''chiromancy''', '''chirology''' or '''cheirology''', the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice palmistry are generally called ''palmists'', ''palm readers'', ''hand readers'', ''hand analysts'', or ''chirologists''.

There are many—and often conflicting—interpretations of various lines and palmar features across various teachings of palmistry. Palmistry is widely viewed as a pseudoscience due to various contradictions between different interpretations and the lack of evidence for palmistry's predictions.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Frazier | editor-first=Kendrick |editor-link=Kendrick Frazier | title=Science Confronts the Paranormal | publisher=Prometheus | year=1986 | isbn=978-1-61592-619-0 |chapter=Palmistry or HandJive? |pages=198–201 |last=Park |first=Michael Alan}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chamorro-Premuzic |first1=Tomas |last2=Furnham |first2=Adrian |year=2010 |title=The Psychology of Personnel Selection |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=19 |isbn=978-0-521-86829-7 |quote=A more popular pseudoscience is chiromancy (or palmistry), the art of characterisation and foretelling the future through the study of the palm.}}</ref>

===Ancient palmistry=== Palmistry is a practice common to many different places on the Eurasian landmass;<ref name=Dwivedi16>{{harvnb|Dwivedi|1970|pp= 16–20}}</ref> it has been practiced in the cultures of Sumer, Babylonia, Arabia, Canaan, Persia, India, Nepal, Tibet and China.

The acupuncturist Yoshiaki Omura describes its roots in Hindu astrology (known in Sanskrit as ''jyotish''), Chinese ''Yijing'' (''I Ching''), and Romani fortune tellers.<ref name="omura173">{{harvnb|Omura|2003|pp= 172–174}} According to this theory, palmistry developed in India and then extended across the world.</ref> In medieval times, Sanskrit texts on palmistry start to be written, locating themselves as a branch of Sāmudrika Śāstra (Sanskrit: सामुद्रिक शास्त्र) which included the studies of marks all over a person's body such as astrology and palmistry (''Hast-rekhā''), as well as phrenology (''kapāl-sāmudrik'') and face reading (physiognomy, ''mukh-samudrik'').<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zysk |first=Kenneth |date=2025-10-31 |title=Early Indian Palmistry : Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna: Pāṇilekhā |url=https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/hssa/index.php/hssa/article/view/128 |journal=History of Science in South Asia |language=en |volume=13 |pages=240–275 |doi=10.18732/hssa128 |issn=2369-775X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kapila |first=Shruti |date=2007 |title=Race Matters: Orientalism and Religion, India and Beyond c. 1770–1880 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0026749X06002526/type/journal_article |journal=Modern Asian Studies |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=504 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X06002526 |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Robert Svoboda & Hart De Fouw - Light On Life |publisher=Lotus Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-940985-69-1 |pages=14 |language=English}}</ref> From India, the art of palmistry spread to China, Tibet and to other countries in Europe.<ref name="omura173"/><ref name="chinn24">{{harvnb|Chinn|2000|p=24}}: "It was not until the mid- to late nineteenth century that palmreading took off in Britain, France and the United States thanks to three major figures: Casimir Stanislas d'Arpentigny, Edward Heron-Allen and Cheiro."</ref>

Palmistry also progressed independently in Greece where Anaxagoras practiced it.<ref name="omura173"/> Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) reportedly discovered a treatise on the subject of palmistry on an altar of Hermes, which he then presented to Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.E.), who took great interest in examining the character of his officers by analyzing the lines on their hands.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Benham|first=William George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjCskHHrLMgC|title=The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading: A Practical Treatise on the Art Commonly Called Palmistry|date=1900|publisher=Putnam|language=en}}</ref> A chapter of a 17th-century sex manual, misattributed to Aristotle, is occasionally incorrectly cited as being the treatise in question. The text is not contained in his canonical works.

[[File:ObidosDestin.jpg|thumb|The infant Jesus having his fortune told whilst sitting on the lap of the Madonna by Josefa de Óbidos (1667)]] In Renaissance magic, palmistry (known as "chiromancy") was classified as one of the seven "forbidden arts", along with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, hydromancy, and spatulamancy (scapulimancy).<ref>Johannes Hartlieb (Munich, 1456) ''The Book of All Forbidden Arts''; quoted in Láng, p. 124.</ref> During the 16th century the art of palmistry was actively suppressed by the Catholic Church. Both Pope Paul IV and Pope Sixtus V issued papal edicts against various forms of divination, including palmistry.<ref name="Byrne">{{cite web |last1=Byrne |first1=Laura |title=Palm Reading |url=http://1000things.org/en/article/palm-reading |website=1000 Things |publisher=Royal Academy of Fine Art in The Hague |access-date=10 November 2020 |date=8 October 2013}}</ref>

===Modern palmistry=== Palmistry experienced a revival in the modern era starting with Captain Casimir Stanislas D'Arpentigny's publication ''La Chirognomie'' in 1839.<ref name="chinn24"/> The Chirological Society of Great Britain was founded in London by Katharine St. Hill in 1889 with the stated aim to advance and systematise the art of palmistry and to prevent charlatans from abusing the art.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.johnnyfincham.com/history/ksthill.htm|title=The London Cheirological Society}}</ref><ref name="Guiley">{{cite book |last1=Guiley |first1=Rosemary |title=The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy |date=2006 |publisher=Facts On File |location=New York |isbn=1438130007 |pages=240–241}}</ref> Edgar de Valcourt-Vermont (Comte C. de Saint-Germain) founded the American Chirological Society in 1897.

A pivotal figure in the modern palmistry movement was the Irish William John Warner, known by his sobriquet, Cheiro. After studying under gurus in India, he set up a palmistry practice in London and enjoyed a wide following of famous clients from around the world, including famous celebrities like Mark Twain, W. T. Stead, Sarah Bernhardt, Mata Hari, Oscar Wilde, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Edison, the Prince of Wales, General Kitchener, William Ewart Gladstone, and Joseph Chamberlain. So popular was Cheiro as a "society palmist" that even those who were not believers in the occult had their hands read by him. The skeptical Mark Twain wrote in Cheiro's visitor's book that he had "exposed my character to me with humiliating accuracy".

Edward Heron-Allen, an English polymath, published various works including the 1883 book, ''Palmistry: A Manual of Cheirosophy'', which is still in print.<ref name="chinn24"/><ref>{{harvnb|Heron-Allen|2008}}</ref> There were attempts at formulating some sort of scientific basis for the art, most notably in the 1900 publication ''The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading'' by William Gurney Benham.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dixie.edu/com/icl/File/disiplines/PALMISTRY%20ORIGINS%20AND%20HISTORY%202011.pdf|title=Palmistry: Origins & History}}</ref>

In 1970, Parker Brothers published a game designed by Maxine Lucille Fiel called "Touch-Game of Palmistry" which allowed players to do "palm reading and analysis" through selecting cards that matched designated palm features.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://poststar.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/maxine-l-fiel/article_ebde2516-57c2-51de-9bc6-5cb399e6cbae.html|title=Maxine L. Fiel obituary |date=Apr 28, 2020 |newspaper=Post Star |location=Glens Falls, New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122182955/https://poststar.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/maxine-l-fiel/article_ebde2516-57c2-51de-9bc6-5cb399e6cbae.html|archive-date=22 November 2020}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px"> File:Cheiroy.jpg|Cheiro, an influential exponent of palmistry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries File:Palmist signboards Yangon.jpg|A modern palm-reader's shop in Yangon, Myanmar File:Les lignes de la main Artlibre.png|Some of the lines of the hand in palmistry:{{ordered list|item_style=margin-bottom:0|Life line| Head line|Heart line| Girdle of Venus| Sun line|Mercury line|Fate line}} File:Mounts-melbourne-hand-analysis.JPG|The mounts in palmistry: Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo, Mercury, Mars positive, Mars negative, plain of Mars, Luna mount, Neptune mount, Venus mount <ref>{{cite web |author=Sara Sirolli |url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=palm.reader.free.palmistry.scanner |title=Palmistry diagram of hand |year=2008}}</ref> File:Japanesefortuneteller-teso-may28-2015.jpg|A Japanese palm-reader waits along the street for a customer, 2015 </gallery>

== Relationship between Palmistry and Dermatoglyphics == Dermatoglyphics and palmistry both study the intricate features of the human palm, like fingerprints, creases, shapes, and mounts, but their purposes differ greatly.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-04-08 |title=Analysis of Dermatoglyphics and DMFT |url=https://www.jebmh.com/articles/analysis-of-dermatoglyphics-and-dmft.pdf?form=MG0AV3 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website= |language=en}}</ref> Dermatoglyphics is a scientific field examining these patterns for genetic and medical insights,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-10 |title=Dermatoglyphics The Science of Lines and Patterns and Its Implications in Dentistry |url=https://www.ijcmr.com/uploads/7/7/4/6/77464738/ijcmr_991_oct_20.pdf |access-date=2024-12-12 |website= |language=en}}</ref> while palmistry interprets them to reveal personality traits and predict future events.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Aliza |date=2018-06-04 |title=A Beginner's Guide to Reading Palms |url=https://www.allure.com/story/palm-reading-guide-hand-lines |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Allure |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Xem chỉ tay |url=https://xemchitay.com.vn/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Xem chỉ tay |language=vi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Asar |first=Adam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RTPrAQAAQBAJ |title=Peace of Mind and Healing of Broken Lives |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-557-33468-1 |pages=28 |language=en}}</ref> The former relies on empirical data, whereas the latter is based on the 12th-century text Samudrika Shastra.

==Criticism== Scientific literature regards palmistry as a pseudoscientific or superstitious belief.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Preece |first1=P. F. |last2=Baxter |first2=J. H. |year=2000 |title=Scepticism and gullibility: The superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs of secondary school students |journal=International Journal of Science Education |volume=22 |issue=11 |pages=1147–1156|doi=10.1080/09500690050166724 |bibcode=2000IJSEd..22.1147P |s2cid=143202676 }}</ref> Psychologist and noted skeptic Ray Hyman has written:<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hyman |first=Ray |year=1976–77 |title=Cold Reading: How to Convince Strangers That You Know All about Them |journal=Zetetic |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=18–37}}</ref>

<blockquote>I started reading palms in my teens as a way to supplement my income from doing magic and mental shows. When I started I did not believe in palmistry. But I knew that to "sell" it I had to act as if I did. After a few years I became a firm believer in palmistry. One day the late Stanley Jaks, who was a professional mentalist and a man I respected, tactfully suggested that it would make an interesting experiment if I deliberately gave readings opposite to what the lines indicated. I tried this out with a few clients. To my surprise and horror my readings were just as successful as ever. Ever since then I have been interested in the powerful forces that convince us, reader and client alike, that something is so when it really isn't.</blockquote>

Skeptics often include palmists on lists of alleged psychics who practice cold reading. Cold reading is the practice that allows readers of all kinds, including palmists, to appear psychic by using high-probability guessing and inferring details based on signals or cues from the other person.<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Vernon |title=Skeptical – A Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal |editor1=Donald Laycock|editor2=David Vernon|editor3=Colin Groves|editor4=Simon Brown |publisher=Imagecraft |location=Canberra |year=1989 |isbn=0-7316-5794-2 |page=44}}</ref><ref>Steiner, Bob. (2002). ''Cold Reading''. In Michael Shermer. ''The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience''. ABC-CLIO. pp. 63–66. {{ISBN|1-57607-654-7}}</ref> Although some Christians condemn palmistry as a form of divination, Jewish and Christian traditions are largely ambivalent about divination in general.<ref name="Jones2005">{{cite book |editor1-last=Jones |editor1-first=Lindsay |title=Encyclopedia of Religion |date=2005 |publisher=Macmillan Reference |location=Detroit |isbn=978-0028657332 |page=2373 |edition=2nd}}</ref> During the 16th century the Catholic Church condemned the practice of palmistry.<ref name="Byrne" /> However, there is a long tradition of practicing palmistry within both Jewish and Christian mysticism,<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Roth |editor1-first=Cecil |title=Encyclopaedia Judaica |date=1972 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |pages=478–480}}</ref> and some practitioners, such as Comte C. de Saint-Germain, have argued that the Bible does not oppose it.<ref name="SaintGermain18">{{cite book |last1=Saint-Germain |first1=Comte C. de |title=Practical Palmistry: Hand Reading Simplified |date=1935 |publisher=Albert Whitman |location=Chicago |pages=18–19 |edition=New illustrated}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Beamish, Richard. ''[https://archive.org/details/b28110791 The psychonomy of the hand: or, The hand an index of mental development according to Mm. d'Arpentigny and Desbarrolles]'' * {{cite book |last=Chauran|first=Alexandra |title=Palmistry Every Day|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide|year=2013|isbn =978-0-7387-3494-1 }} * {{gutenberg|no=20480|name=Palmistry for All|author=Cheiro |year=1916}} * {{cite book |last=Chinn|first=Sarah E.|title='Technology and the logic of American racism'|publisher=Continuum|year=2000|isbn =978-0-8264-4750-0 }} * de Saint-Germain, Comte C. (1897). ''Practical Palmistry''. Chicago: Laird & Lee Publishers. * {{Cite book |last=Dwivedi |first=Bhorai |title=Wonders of Palmistry|publisher=Diamond Pocket Books |location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-284-0099-5|year=1970}} * {{cite book |last=Heron-Allen|first=Edward|title=Palmistry – A Manual of Cheirosophy|publisher=Baltzell Press|author-link=Edward Heron-Allen |year=2008|edition=reprint|isbn =978-1-4437-6535-0 }} * {{cite book |first=Yoshiaki |last=Omura|title=Acupuncture Medicine: Its Historical and Clinical Background|publisher=Dover Publications Inc|year=2003|isbn =978-0-486-42850-5 }} * {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Sharma |first=Hari Dutta |title=The A–Z of Palmistry|publisher= Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-207-1661-2|year=1995}} * van Dijk-Rijneke, Magda. ''Universal Hand Analysis'', 2017 Elmar Publishers {{ISBN|978-9038925912}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Chiromancy|lcfirst=yes}} * [http://skepdic.com/palmist.html Palmistry] – Skeptic's Dictionary

Category:Divination Category:Hands in culture Category:Pseudoscience Category:Romani folklore